The hunt for a Wisconsin man who robbed a gun store and sent an angry manifesto to President Trump is in its second week. We discuss the latest on the search, and check in on other Wisconsin stories, during our state news roundup. Defeating Scott Walker in next year’s elections is a priority for state Democrats. A political reporter joins us to discuss why, despite that, they haven’t found a candidate to oppose him. We also hear about an Eau Claire man biking from coast to coast to raise money for Syrian refugees.
Featured in this Show
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State News Roundup For April 14, 2017
A manhunt for a Wisconsin fugitive is in its second week. The man robbed a gun store and sent a manifesto to President Donald Trump describing the government as a “gang of terrorists.” A news editor joins us to talk about this and other top stories from the past week.
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Eau Claire Native Biking Across US To Raise Awareness For Syrian Refugees
Matt Boelter’s epiphany came in the form of a phone call.
The 22-year-old Eau Claire native graduated college and was working a desk job in Washington state. Then, the news: his mother suffered a stroke.
“That experience in itself really made me reevaluate my own life and the values that I hold,” Boelter said. “More importantly, to examine what I want to do with this life, because it can be over in such a short time.”
He moved back from Washington to his home in Eau Claire to help his mother recover.
But Boelter didn’t want to go back to his “ultimately unfulfilling” desk job. He had a passion for global issues — and saw a need for real action.
In May, Boelter is hitting the pavement to prove his passion. He will bike more than 4,000 miles from coast to coast, raising money and awareness for Syrian refugees through the international aid organization, Save the Children.
“There’s just this incredible, incredible need out there, specifically for the children, to kind of relieve some of their suffering, in emotional terms but also in physical terms of getting those basic needs met,” Boelter said. “And that means shelter and food.”
Boelter said millions of Syrians are registered as refugees with the United Nations, and hundreds of thousands have died since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.
His goal is to raise $10,000 for the cause by Aug. 30. He’ll bike the Trans-America Trail, beginning in Virginia and traveling all the way west to Oregon.
Other than the money raised, Boelter said he wants to start a conversation about Syria and refugees in general, and past the sometimes divisive political rhetoric.
He will be talking to people he meets along the way about refugees and immigrants. He plans to post those conversations on his blog, Thought For Food.
“I think that when we build very rigid identity walls that separate ourselves from other people… this really hinders our ability to work together to solve some of these issues,” he said. “Viewing other people in terms of our shared humanity… really allows us to be more compassionate to ourselves and also to other people.”
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Eau Claire Native Is Biking Across Country To Raise Awareness For Syrian Refugees
We talk to an Eau Claire native who is biking coast-to-coast this summer to raise money and awareness for Syrian refugees.
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What's In Store For the 2018 Wisconsin Gubernatorial Race?
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has hinted that he’ll run for re-election in 2018, but the Democrats haven’t secured a candidate to challenge him quite yet. We’ll speak with Political Reporter Alan Greenblatt of Governing about that could be in the cards for the 2018 race.
Episode Credits
- Veronica Rueckert Host
- Amanda Magnus Producer
- Karl Christenson Producer
- J. Carlisle Larsen Producer
- Rob Mentzer Guest
- Matt Boelter Guest
- Alan Greenblatt Guest
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